


Eagle Eye

by official_dave



Category: Star Fox Series
Genre: M/M, Romance, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 05:29:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17574782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/official_dave/pseuds/official_dave
Summary: The biggest difference between Fox and Falco? Easy. Falco can read his roommate's crushes like an open book - but unfortunately for Falco, Fox couldn't be more oblivious.





	Eagle Eye

Falco looked up from his textbook as Fox entered their dorm, dressed like he'd come straight from the gym, towel slung around his neck. Without saying a word, Fox hung his towel over the door of his wardrobe, turned on his computer, and slumped into his desk chair, facing away from his roommate.

“Didn't you leave for the gym at four?” Falco asked.

“You're actually doing the reading?” Fox replied without actually answering.

Falco grinned crookedly. “Nah.” Fox turned to see Falco holding the textbook upside down. He sighed and returned to his computer as Falco chuckled and set the book down (likely never to be touched for another few months).

“But seriously, it's-” Falco cleared his throat and did his best General Pepper impression - “oh-nine-hundred hours.”

“Twenty-one,” Fox corrected him instinctively.

“Fox.” The humor dropped out of Falco’s tone, at least, as much as it could. “You really telling me you were at the gym for five hours?”

Fox shrugged. “I was blowing off steam.”

“How much steam?” Falco asked incredulously. “You gonna brew me some tea?”

“It's, uh, been quite a day.”

Falco raised an eyebrow and leaned forward in his chair, propping his elbows on his knees. “What's the matter? You get a 97 on an exam?”

“You know I hate those jokes,” Fox muttered.

Taken aback, Falco's eyebrows shot up. He knew Fox didn't like it when other people made fun of his proclivity for perfectionism, but he had thought Fox had enough trust in him to figure out he was making fun of the people who made the joke in earnest, not Fox himself. “Hey, Fox, you okay?”

Fox sighed again. “Sorry, Falco. A lot went down today.”

Falco frowned. Scrunched his eyebrows. Raised one, and lowered it. Then, he shrugged. “Well, any time you wanna talk to your pal, I'm here.”

Three years of rooming with Fox had taught Falco that you don't push your luck. A moody Fox wasn't exactly a landmine, but a moody Fox under pressure was a gravity bomb. Best to let him defuse himself.

Falco got up from his chair and climbed up into his bunk. He'd called the top bunk the day they moved in. Fox didn't care. It turned out it has come back to bite Falco in the winter months, though. With the heat on, rising to the top of the room, Falco often found himself awake in the middle of the night craving an ice pack.

But the heater wasn't the only thing in the academy Falco had woken up in a sweat over.

Really, it was a wonder Fox and Falco had been able to room together for so long without killing each other. They were in many ways polar opposites. Fox could easily stop caring what others thought about him, where Falco spent about an hour every morning perfecting his image. Fox was a hardworking near-perfectionist, and Falco floated on by on his talents.

“Bill turned me down,” Fox said quietly.

And the biggest difference was that, where Falco could read Fox's crushes like a book, Fox remained hopelessly oblivious of Falco's.

Shock lit up Falco's face like a spotlight. “Bill did what?”

“He said no. No date. No feelings.”

“So he's not gay.” It was a question, really, but Falco was worried about what it meant if he was wrong, so he said it like a statement.

Fox laughed bitterly. “No, I read him right. Know how I know? I had to go and ask him that, too. He's bi. But he's _not_ into me.”

Falco's expression became stormy. “What?” He hopped off the bed, folding his arms. “That's not even possible.”

“It's possible.” Fox slumped over his desk, resting his head in the crook of his arm. Falco let his eyes wander over Fox's frame. The neck of his tank top exposed plenty of back muscle, and his shoulders rose and fell as Fox clenched a fist. Falco's jaw clenched. Bill Grey had refused _this_.

“Bill's an idiot,” Falco said, drawing closer to his roommate.

“Don't say that. I didn't fall in love with an idiot-”

“I mean it. Look at yourself, Fox.” Falco grabbed the back of his chair. “Best pilot I know - besides me, of course. Definitely the best grades in the academy. Disciplined. Great soldier, better friend. And the most hand…er, the most _hardworking_ guy I know.”

Falco reddened as he saw Fox's brow knot in confusion, but his expression flickered back to overcast in the next half second. “I appreciate it Falco; I really do. Wish that had helped me out a little more.”

Falco frowned. “Fox, I know how you feel. You were there when Miyu rejected me. I ain't gonna pretend it's gonna be easy for you. But just know you can do a lot better than Bill. There's _plenty_ of cadets who'd kill for a date with you.”

Fox remained silent, staring at his paw. Falco waited for him to say something, and then realized why Fox was so intent on his paw. Without realizing it, one of Falco's wings had perched itself over Fox's paw, and the other was around Fox's shoulder. Falco turned crimson. He was glad Fox still couldn't get a good look at his face.

“H-how ‘bout I get you something to eat?” Falco stammered quickly, backing away from Fox. “You gotta be hungry. Five hours at the gym and all that.”

“I brought, uh…” Fox looked around him listlessly. “I thought I got takeout. I must have forgotten to pick it up.”

The corners of Falco's mouth turned up. “You're a mess, McCloud.”

“You're telling me,” Fox said miserably, and Falco immediately felt sorry again.

“Tell you what,” Falco offered, slipping his room key into his pocket, “I'm gonna pick up your food, and then we can talk about today. Or whatever. We don't have to talk about today.”

Fox smiled weakly. “Thanks, Falco.”

As Falco left the room, he called, “Bill doesn't deserve you. I mean that."

Because if Bill couldn't say yes to Fox, he was blind.

 But Falco? Falco wasn't blind.


End file.
